Description: It defied all odds to become the most
unexpected and acclaimed cult hit of the 80s, and it remains
one of the most slyly subversive and thrillingly original
action/comedy/drama motion pictures of all time. The
legendary Peter O'Toole in his iconic Oscar® nominated
performance stars as director Eli Cross, a deliciously
megalomaniacal madman commanding a film-set circus where a
paranoid young veteran (Steve Railsback) finds himself maybe
replacing a dead stunt man, possibly falling for the
beautiful leading lady (Barbara Hershey), and discovering
that love, death and the mayhem of moviemaking can
definitely be the wildest illusions of all. THE STUNT MAN
now features a stunning HD transfer supervised by Oscar®
nominated producer/director Richard Rush, plus new
interviews and commentaries with Rush, Peter O'Toole, Steve
Railsback and Alex Rocco, all in the ultimate edition of the
classic that the Los Angeles Times calls as innovative today
as Citizen Kane was in its time!

The Film:

Richard Rush, the semi-legendary, often too-independent film director
who cut his teeth on such American-International drive-in quickies as
Hells Angels on Wheels (1967) and Psych-Out (1968), knows
what it feels like to never receive the attention from the American
public that you probably deserve, even when you successfully pull off a
shockingly original film.

"I was lecturing at a university film school to a bunch of potential
film students and asked them if any of them had seen my films," Rush
told the British film journalist Paul Hupfield in 2001. "I started with
Color of Night (1994), and I'd say about 80 hands went up out of
a room of about 200 kids. Then I asked if anyone had seen The Stunt
Man (1980), the film I actually wanted to talk to them about, and
only two hands went up. Two hands in a room of 200! I thought, 'Oh boy,
my film is totally lost on this generation...'"

The Stunt Man, a bizarre swirl of pseudo-surrealism that stars
Peter O'Toole as an egotistical, dangerously manipulative film director
named Eli Cross, is easily Rush's most critically revered movie, having
garnered three Oscar® nominations (including nods to O'Toole for Best
Actor and Rush himself for Best Director), so it makes sense that he
wanted to discuss it with a captive audience. But he surely must have
been a little bit prepared for the crowd's lack of enthusiasm, since
that's how most of Hollywood responded to his years-long attempt to get
the picture made. Then, once he actually made it, he had troubled
getting it released!

This was director Richard Rush's dream project and it took him nine
years to get it on the screen. And, of course, it would! It's
multi-layered, original, funny and packed full of story and circumstance
that makes you think.

Why would any studio want to touch it? Fox even sat on it for two years
before giving it a limited release. [...] The Stunt Man is a movie you'll
never forget and even on its umpteenth viewing, still manages to be as
intriguing as the first.

Image : NOTE:The below
Blu-ray
captures were taken directly from the
Blu-ray
disc.

Anchor Bay came out with a
stellar
DVD edition (optimistically advertised as limited to
100,000 units) in 2001. And until now it was the definitive
edition of the film on digital. Up next; The
Stunt Manappears strong
on
Blu-ray
from Severin. The 1080P image shows grit and
grain looking thick, authentic and pleasing. Colors are
naturally bright without manipulated vibrancy. This
is a dual-layered disc with an acceptable bitrate for the
feature transfer. The textures are notable, there isn't an
abundance of depth but the print used is exceptionally clean.
One rub on the older DVD was the inconsistency of the
appearance. This hi-def edition seems to overcome that
looking mostly strong throughout. This is the type of
'brave' film-like image we get from companies like Blue
Underground. This
Blu-ray
probably looks like the theatrical representation of The
Stunt Man and it
advances beyond SD in a number of areas. Bravo Severin!

CLICK EACH BLU-RAY
CAPTURE TO SEE ALL IMAGES IN FULL 1920X1080 RESOLUTION

Audio :

The DTS-HD Master 5.1 at 2726 kbps is not the most aggressive track but
it has some moments. The mix is not crisply sending effects to the rears
but it sounds like a suitable audio transfer nonetheless with segments
of depth and no notable flaws

.
The score is by Dominic Frontiere who has don a lot of TV work. This
supports the film without being intrusive - and through the lossless is
clean and useful to the feel of the film. There are no subtitles offered
and my Momitsu
has identified
it as being a region FREE disc playable on
Blu-ray
machines worldwide.

Extras :

Supplements
seem endless - from the old Anchor Bay we have the same, fun audio
commentary with writer/director Richard Rush and stars Peter O'Toole,
Steve Railsback, Barbara Hershey, Alex Rocco, Sharon Farrell, & Chuck
Bail. While mostly a group effort some participants were recorded
separately. It is well worth indulging in for the niche fans of the
film. Impressive is the almost 2-hour Richard Rush 2000 documentary
The Sinister Saga: The Making of The Stuntman in 1080i. It is a
behind-the-scenes look at the making of Stuntman and is loaded
with information from the person who would know it best. It features
interviews with stars O'Toole and Hershey, plus other members of the
cast and crew There are also plenty of other video extras - all in HD.
This includes a 1/2 piece on the director entitled 'The Maverick
Career of Richard Rush', a 20-minute interview with Peter O'Toole
and his recollections of The Stuntman, an appealing interview with Steve
Railsback and Alex Rocco entitled Devil's Squadron, 15-minutes
with Barbara Hershey on Nina Franklin, a segment on The Stuntman at the
New Beverley theater, 2 Deleted Scenes (Sandpile - 2:39,
Police Station - 3:15 - both in 1080P) and 3 Trailers (Teaser,
Theatrical, Spanish). Wow.

BOTTOM LINE: There is so much to enjoy. This film has extensive layers and seems
to have been overlooked by some of the major critics as the
delightful cornucopia of adventure/love/escape that it
offers viewers. The movie-within-a-movie themes are explored
in kind of an abstract way that end up being both amusing
and addictive. It has 'cult status' written all over it. The
Blu-ray is an impressive package. A lot of love went into this edition and
it makes for a very desirable purchase. We endorse!

Gary Tooze

May 27th, 2011

About the Reviewer:
Hello, fellow Beavers! I have been interested in film
since I viewed a Chaplin festival on PBS when I was
around 9 years old. I credit DVD with expanding my
horizons to fill an almost ravenous desire to seek out
new film experiences. I currently own approximately 9500
DVDs and have reviewed over 3500 myself. I appreciate my
discussion Listserv for furthering my film
education and inspiring me to continue running DVDBeaver.
Plus a healthy thanks to those who donate and use our
Amazon links.

Although I never wanted to become one of those guys who
focused 'too much' on image and sound quality - I
find HD is swiftly pushing me in that direction.